One Ice Cream Cone, Minus the Ice Cream Please
Summer seems to be arriving here in Salt Lake City. We are expecting temperatures in the low 80’s this weekend and it’s about time! I have camping trips, backyard barbeques, and ice cream on the mind. I’ll bet you do too.
I talk to small business owners every day. I admire their talents and adventurous spirits and it is a joy to work closely with them. Most of these entrepreneurs are phenomenal at what they do and produce valuable, high-quality products and services. The fact that the entrepreneur’s business is running suggests that he or she is also at least a half-decent marketer. But most will not hesitate to admit that they are not great accountants. While by admission they are not trained accountants, they often feel that there accounting is “taken care of.” What they really mean is that there employees are getting paychecks, their vendors are being paid, and their taxes have been filed. Phew! That’s what it’s all about, right? Do we do accounting because we have to do it to keep the IRS as far away from us as possible? Most small businesses do. And it’s a shame!
Doing accounting “because the IRS says we have to” is like ordering an ice cream cone minus the ice cream! The barely edible styrofoam cone certainly serves a purpose and is necessary to keep us out of a sticky mess. But the real value in the ice cream cone is the delicious scoop of ice cream on top. The most successful business owners don’t do their accounting to prepare a tax return, much like they do not order an ice cream cone for the bland cone. We should do accounting because it provides a wealth of tasty information that will help us to make and keep more money. Good accounting will make you multiples of it’s cost!
Below are some questions that successful business owners ask and answer frequently. Whether or not you do business with us, if you will ask and answer these questions every month, your business will benefit.
- How do last April’s expenses compare to this April’s expenses, and why?
- What types of advertising are paying off, and which aren’t?
- What is historically my most profitable month?
- Which month is always terrible, and what can I do now to improve it next year?
- How do my overhead costs compare to my competitors’, and how can I reduce them?
- When I go to the bank for a business loan next month, are my financial ratios going to be good enough?
- What could a 5% increase in price do for my bottom line?
Questions like these, my friends, are the delicious ice cream that is so often entirely ignored and wasted. The small business owner often has neither the time or accounting knowledge to answer these questions. They are flying blind! We can help.
At Universal Accounting Services, we provide our clients with peace of mind. They know that their accounting is being done accurately and timely. More importantly, we help them to understand their business accounting by meeting with them monthly to review financial information and ask questions that result in growth and increased profits. If you feel that we can help you or someone you know to maximize their profits, minimize their taxes, and optimize their cash flow, let us know! It’s what we do.
Why Outsource Your Accounting
Accounting is a core business function. Without accounting, a business is sure to fail. With accounting, a business might survive. With accounting managed by a Profit Center Expert, a business is certain to succeed.
You’re probably already familiar with the bleak forecast for new small businesses. While failure rates have decreased considerably in the last few years, recent studies from the Small Business Administration (SBA) indicate that one third of new employer establishments fail within the first two years, and 56% fail within four years.
Poor financial management is often cited as the reason for most small business failures. Often the business owner or a member of the business team manages this crucial function because they want to maintain complete control of their business, they’re afraid that outsourcing the accounting would be too expensive, or a combination of the two. What they don’t realize is that outsourcing is a useful management tool that can save a business both time and money while preventing potential failure. And when you outsource to the right accountant, it can be the difference between base survival and profitable success.
The Benefits
There are countless benefits you enjoy when outsourcing your accounting. Here are just a few:
Save Yourself Time. You’re in business because you’re good at what you do. Your expertise involves the product and/or service you offer. And we’re guessing your expertise is not accounting. So if you, or anyone on your team, spend time managing your business’s finances, that’s time that could be better spent building your business.
In order to be competitive you must constantly be looking for ways to improve and expand your products and/or services, better market your business, and stay ahead of your competition. When you and your team focus time and attention on the accounting, that’s time not spent on these crucial tasks. When you outsource the accounting to a trusted professional, you can use that time to make your business the best it can be.
Save Yourself Money. We all know time is money. The average small business owner spends over 10 hours personally, each month, accounting for the business. If your average billing rate is $50 per hour, you may be spending more than five hundred dollars’ worth of your time! Chances are you easily can pay for a good accountant and then some with all that money.
Gain Access to Valuable Accounting Expertise, Equipment, and Technology. Reputable accountants have the expertise to not only save you money, but to make your business more profitable. In addition to that, they have access to equipment and technology that most small businesses can’t afford. They will use their resources to your advantage and save you the time and headache of doing it yourself.
Gain Access to Profit-Building Information. A truly valuable accountant is also a Profit Center Expert. They analyze financial data in order to assist you in making profitable decisions for your business. A Profit Center Expert can inform you which products and/or services to expand, which to eliminate, whether your marketing attempts are successful, where you’re loosing money, and where to cut back in order to save and redirect funds in order to become more profitable.
Call us for a free, no-obligation consultation. We can customize a package of services that is competitively priced and designed to save you time, energy, and headache. We offer the following services:
Accounts Payable
- Input vendor invoices to payable system
- Classify invoices to the proper G/L account
- Request and maintain vendor W-9 information
- Maintain vendor master files
- Respond to vendor inquiries about payment status
- Retrieve copies of payments as necessary
- Prepare and file required 1099 forms
- Process requests for stop payments when necessary
- Cut checks to vendors based on due dates or client instruction
- Reconcile vendor statements to accounts payable ledger
- Reporting to organization on detailed aged payables and cash requirements
- Process year-end 1099 forms
Accounts Receivable
- Prepare and mail billings as needed (all billings provided to client for approval prior to mailing)
- Record and account for revenue
- Input receivable transactions into the accounting system
- Prepare and deliver periodic statements
- Issue client-approved credit memos and refund checks
- Maintain subsidiary receivables ledger
- Process client-approved adjustments
- Apply cash received to customer accounts and resolve “short pays”
- Perform low-level phone collections as needed by client
Cash management
- Process daily sales and deposit reports
- Verify daily deposits and report variances
- Reconcile and verify credit card deposits
- Reconcile monthly bank statements
Journal entry and general ledger
Account reconciliations
Payroll
- Time cards, after approval, will be scanned and uploaded prior to payday
- Complete payroll while client prints, signs and distributes paychecks
- Prepare employee earnings statements complete with current pay period and year-to-date wages, taxes, and adjustments
- Prepare department summaries of month-to-date payroll data in addition to customized reports specific to client
- Prepares timely and accurate notifications of tax liabilities and deposits
- Completes year-end W-2 forms
- Respond to requests for employee verifications
- Process and submit garnishment payments
- Respond to employee payroll inquiries
- Prepare and file new hire reporting to state
- Prepare, file, and pay all federal, state, and local payroll taxes
- Reconcile health insurance payments and make payroll deductions when required
- Prepare necessary HR reports such as turnover
- Allocate payroll expenses for multi-store employees
- Prepare and process payroll accruals when necessary
Monthly Closing
Fixed assets accounting & depreciation
Monthly financial analysis and reports
Yearly Business Assessments
Don’t wait another day to partner with a Profit Center Expert (PCE) and make your business more successful. Do what you love to do more; let your PCE take care of the rest. Call now for a free, no-obligation consultation.